"I'm supposed to be a good boy and not go over it," Ilitch said, "but if I think there are certain players that could help us a lot, I'll go over it. Oops, I shouldn't have said that."

When you're 85, you probably don't give a flip any longer about saying what you think people want to hear. Ilitch spoke from his heart, making his first public appearance in a year when the Tigers announced the signing of free agent starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann at Comerica Park. He professed losing some night's sleep with the Tigers' fall from perennial Central Division champion to the basement last season. He referred to last season as a "goofy year."

But if there were any doubts before, there is no doubt now in the aftermath of the Tigers arguably overpaying for a middle of the rotation starter in Zimmermann. The elder Ilitch is still calling the shots. And while there's some reassurance from his unquestioned passion to finally bring this long-starved city a World Series championship, there should be an equal measure of trepidation that this franchise cannot keep shelling out above-market value for aging starting pitchers trending downward or risk a crash that could realistically thrust this franchise into competitive oblivion until the next decade at the earliest.

It's one thing spending big dollars when a team already knows it's good and is looking for a final piece to push them across that final threshold. But the 2016 Tigers aren't a good team. There simply aren't enough available/cost feasible answers for the limitless questions facing this roster.

The Tigers are much closer to staying in last place in the American League Central than seriously contending with defending World Series champion Kansas City and Minnesota and Cleveland with their major league-maturing young pitching talent.

New general manager Al Avila is simply doing what his boss asks. Can he keep this franchise relevant in 2016 and keep the seats at Comerica Park filled next summer?

"You want to win," Ilitch said. "That's all I think about. My wife's got to put me in bed, patting me around and saying "It'll be OK, Mike. It'll be OK.' I don't care about the money. I want to get as many good players out there as possible."

Ilitch is confident that he's got the right general manager in Avila, whom he offered the job two days before he phoned Dave Dombrowski in the Tigers' clubhouse and told him that he was making a change. When pressed for clarity Monday how they situation went down, Ilitch insisted that he never fired Dombrowski, saying that Dombrowski's contract was running out.

"We talked a lot," Ilitch said. "We talked like old friends. He knew that he wasn't coming back. That's all there was to do it because I didn't win with him. We were close. He's a great guy. But there are times when you've got to change. When you're not winning, you've got to change. I made up my mind that you've got to change. I called him and told him like a gentleman."

It remains a bush league move for a normally classy organization to part company with the chief executive who charted the path out of the abyss that dogged this franchise for a generation in such an impersonal manner. A phone call? Really?

"You get frustrated," he said regarding the abrupt departure, "and I get a little upset and then I said 'Al, get out there and get me more.' I want to win more."

Ilitch said his health was fine. He required a walker to get to the dais. And he seemed a little confused at times with some of the questions fired at him. He wouldn't elaborate when he called last season "a goofy year coming up with that garbage."

But for an owner who only concerns himself the competitive bottom line, the bottom line Monday was that it was good that he showed up on a day intended to build up the Tigers' chances at a quick recovery. He took questions, reminding the hard core fans of how badly he wants a baseball championship in this city. Ilitch told fans what they wanted to hear.